Flatiron Health Inc. is a group that collects and aggregates the data for cancer patients from a wide variety of sources, in order to provide doctors with the greatest wealth of information possible. Thanks to investors like First Round Capital, Angel Investors and the Laboratory Corporation of America, the company was able to raise $130 million in financing. Yet as much as these groups had contributed to the fundraiser, the lion's share of the investment was paid by Google Ventures, making this their largest medical software investment to date.
The company, founded in 2012 in the state of New York, sought to address the problem that a measly 4 percent of cancer patients actually participate in clinical trials. That means that less than one in every twenty cases of cancer has accessible patient outcomes or information on how effective the treatments actually were. Flatiron's software anonymously accesses the information collected by hospital networks on these cases, which provides doctors with accurate and helpful information, without violating the patients' privacy.
This new funding will allow Flatiron to acquire Altos Solutions, a company that offers cloud-based electronic health record (EHR) services. These networks allow doctors to access patient medical records from almost any node on the network, which Google Ventures managing partner Bill Maris says, “Is like rocket fuel for Flatiron... here you have two companies with very complementary technologies, both working in oncology. It's a significant step forward for cancer care.”
Google's sudden commitment to investing in medical technology has some analysts wondering if the company is preparing to market wearable devices, as is speculated about Apple's recent purchases.
Health and fitness monitoring capabilities are what experts predict will be the final push that wearable devices need to be a significant upgrade compared to the abilities that are already available on most consumers' smartphones, but only time will tell if Google goes in this direction.
Edited by
Stefania Viscusi
